Representing the Baby
Playing with reality: representing the baby Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Christine Ann Hill Swinburne University of Technology Faculty of Life and Social Sciences 2014 ABSTRACT This thesis – by artefact and exegesis – draws attention to the role the infant plays in our society. It suggests that the complexity and depth of the emotional life of infants is seriously underestimated, putting at risk their mental health. The artefact and exegesis work together to demonstrate and explain the infant’s proclivity for communication and to emphasize the role of the infant as subject, not object, in relation to others. The artefact is an imaginative representation of the infant’s emotional world from the infant’s perspective. Entitled ‘There is no such thing as a baby’ the artefact is presented in two formats – a written play text and an online interactive performance text. The written piece reflects the traditional form of text-based drama, whereas the performance text acknowledges the growing influence of multimedia in the theatre and, by incorporating image and sound, offers the reader a more theatrical experience. The method of practice-led research and research-led practice enables creative writing to share the stage with academic discourse, providing a unique perspective on the mental health of infants and their parents. Multiple connections are made, as writer leads reader across discipline boundaries – infant mental health, poetry, psychoanalysis, dance, neuroscience, theatre, and performance – in search of authentic relationships. The development of creativity and thinking in the infant, in the theatre, and in the writer is evident in the parallels drawn between the dynamics of baby and mother, theatre and audience, and artefact and exegesis.
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